The Demon's forgotten Remains
by HinaTheBlue
Summary: [Rational-Will AU Splitted Falls AU] The story plays after the interdimensional rift started cracking and a fast solution had to be found! So Stanford asked Dipper to go with him to the old caves of Gravity Falls where he read about his biggest mistake for the first time. And according to what they found down there, the dream demon Bill Cipher wasn't always the one he is today...
1. Down the ancient Caves

_A/N: I shortened this chapter a little and changed some dialogs, especially at the end. So it's not that tedious anymore x)  
..._

„It must be somewhere down here, I'm certain of it!", said Ford with lowered voice and kept his eyes on scouting around.

Right behind him and hot on his heels there was Dipper, doing the same while their stony way was only illuminated by the dull shine of an old lantern and hardly prevented both from almost stumbling over stones here and there.

Just a few hours ago Stanford was sitting in the Shack, browsing through the journals in hopes that something useful got overlooked, undissolved on the first sight but maybe decoded on the second. Because the time was running, the rift was slowly cracking and a solution was badly needed. Not imaginable what could happen if Bill gets his greedy hands on the orb or finds another way which they didn't consider yet.

And so he decided to look for the deep caves of Gravity Falls where he once found the ancient petroglyphs of the dream demon and his cipher wheel. Maybe he could find something he accidentally missed back then, hidden parts he did not register.  
And Dipper, of course, wouldn't even think of missing that chance when Ford asked to go with him.

"Uh, Grunkle Ford?" Dipper looked around in unease as the dark shadows seemed to follow them on the cold rock walls. "Are you sure that we didn't get lost? We've been going deeper for at least an hour now…"

"Of course I am, trust me. Those tunnels are indeed extensive but not as branched as they might seem, Dipper."

And as he had finished his sentence the man could see the reason for their dungeon trip, slowly revealed by the shine of his lamp.

"There it is, look!", he pointed out eagerly and stepped closer to the stony wall where the old cave paintings were still clearly visible, "Just as I left them..."

"Woah...", the kid behind him raised his head and followed, "This is where you got the clues and symbols of Bill? How old can they possibly be?" Dipper took a close look at the well-known drawing of the wheel, the 'one eyed demon' right in the center.  
On the one hand it amazed him to stand right in front of a real and nearly untouched ancient writing, but on the other hand it gave him the creeps by the idea how old and powerful Bill could really be, feared since thousands of years or even more.

Stanford was already looking for more of those scripts as he let the light travel over the walls.

"I'm still not quite sure about that but this is not the earliest discovery at all. And we are talking about millions of years. But that is not important now. Hopefully we can find some more clues down here or even a way to defeat him. Just look closely and tell me immediately if you can see any suspicious detail."

And with that they started the investigation, all eyes on the painting without missing a single corner or even a single spot on the floor or the ceiling. During that Dipper had caught the attention of his great uncle a several times whenever he saw something strange, only to get one head-shaking after another.  
Time passed and with every unsuccessful minute the frustration built up more, causing Stanford a long and tensioned sigh.

"Ah fudge! It can't be that we made all the way down here for nothing!", he grumbled and stared at the wall like it was all its fault, walked back to the other end to start from scratch, "If this is not going to help us then we-"

His voice broke up all of a sudden as he almost tripped over Dipper who was kneeling on the floor, letting out a sharp and surprised gasp and dropped the lantern before he barely managed to caught himself.

"Holy smoke!", he panted out his shock, holding onto the rock next to him as he looked down at the likewise startled boy.

"Woah! Easy there!"

"Oh god, I'm so sorry Dipper! Did I hurt you?"

"Haha, no don't worry", Dipper laughed lightly and rubbed his side,

"I already had worse, trust me."

"No, I should have watched my way, I'm sorry.

Looks like I lost my countenance for a second…"

With an excusing smile Stanford patted the kid's head and earned a slight chuckle, stepped over to his lamp which has rolled down a short path. But as he planned to pick it up his eyes got caught by the spot the light had just revealed.

"What the... Dipper! Take a look at that!", Stanford shouted and waved the kid over to him who didn't waste any second and jumped up.

Just where he stood there was a narrow gab in the wall, opened a small aisle which seemed to lead to another room. How could he had missed that prominent crack back then?

"Wow, seems like you just found a branch tunnel!", said Dipper.

"Or even a path to another cavern. A little small but maybe we can manage to reach the other side."

No sooner said than done.

With the lantern at the front the two explorers slowly crossed the wall gab like the crabs in single file, carefully pushing forward without slashing themselves open on the sharp rocks. A gaping wound was the last thing they needed in that claustrophobia trigger. But it wasn't long before Ford would stop in his motions and sway his lamp around.  
A little jump and the two were standing in a small and high room, the floor almost even and hardly big enough for a king-sized bed.

"Huh… it IS a small cavern", Dipper said quietly and looked around, followed the traveling light on the walls with his eyes. "But it looks almost… arranged. Like somebody wanted to dig another tunnel or simply a hidden room."

"Yes, sort of", Ford agreed and let his fingers slide over the dusty and rough stone, his head held up. "But if that would be the case, what was that room made for? It's completely empty and the walls are all clean."

"Grunkle Ford, look over here!"

Stanford turned his head around as Dipper called him over to the other end of the room, let the light shine at the pointed out spot. At first he couldn't see anything remarkable. But as the young boy stroked the dust off the stone his eyes went wide for a second.

"What is this?..." he asked himself in curiosity and took a closer look.

Just above another ancient writing, similar to the others back in the big cave, there was an almost vanished painting of the well-known triangle with just one eye. But besides that there was nothing else around. No wheel, no black limbs attached to it, no bowing figures surrounding and no other strange symbols. And instead of the bright yellow color it had a greenish and dull shade, almost invisible on the dark stones.

"Now that is strange…" said Ford and adjusted his glasses, "A green one… haven't seen anything like this before. It looks like an added painting to the others we have seen. But why is it here all alone?"

"Maybe it's just another variation of them… or simply an older one."

"Mh… no", Ford shook his head, "No, those symbols are way too different even if they have a close resemblance. Let me see…"

After placing the lamp on the ground he grabbed inside his coat to take out the right journal for that case, scrolled to the right pages before having Dipper looking inside with him curiously.

"What does the writing say?"

"Just give me a second….", he started and read them over and used his self-made cipher key to translate the symbols as good as he can:

 _Omniscient Oculum Triangulum,_ _In coelo thronum suum_ _,_ _Spiritus ultra et citra_ _._

 _Entangulum,_ _Cum magna voce_ _excitantum._

 _Veneforis dominus ventium. Veneforis venetisarium._

"Wait a second… those phrases … they're almost the same as the incantation of Bill!"

"Huh? Really?" Dipper asked keen-eared and tried reading it by himself, "So it _is_ just an older version of the others…"

"No no, just almost… The phrasing is a little longer than the one I know but they share a lot of identical parts. Let's… not read them out loudly yet but we definitely should take them with us."

The young boy watched his uncle confused who was putting his book back inside his pocket. He didn't really understand… was the slight difference really _that_ important?

"But… if they have so much in common, why should they be two different incantations? That's just odd", Dipper asked after watching Ford picking up the lantern,  
"I mean, I don't think that a word more or less would make such a big difference, would it? Not by someone like Bill…"

"Maybe it would, maybe not", Ford replied "But there is no time anymore for half-hearted doubts or doubled safety. This could be the clue we have been looking for Dipper, even if it looks like nothing."

"Hm… so what is on your mind?"

"Let's figure out what those words could mean in their combination and how they differ from the original incantation of Bill. Maybe we can find something like a backdoor, a recall or even a spell that can help us further."

"A magic spell against Bill… now that could be actually helpful", the kid jokingly said and gave his great uncle a slight uneasy smile.  
But Ford laid his six-fingered hand on Dippers shoulder and returned that smile in a supporting manner.

"And you were the one who found it first, weren't you? Haha! Now let's get out of here. We have a long way to go."


	2. A sleepless Night

It has been hours since our two adventurers had found their way home from the old caves of Gravity Falls, keen to examine their new trove.

Since then they wanted to believe in the usefulness of that old painting with its new and yet unsolved scripts.  
And since then they did everything to make sense of what they have seen in that hidden cavern, just next door to those ancient writings of the well-known dream demon, with such similarity that it couldn't be a coincidence or something that should be ignored.

But the more they were looking it over the more confusion was filling their minds.  
And even after hours of collecting the parts of the puzzle there were still no answers.  
The table in the living room was entirely covered in a mess of notes, photos, sheets with cipher keys and all of the three journals. Nothing could lead to a clear solution, just vague assumptions or rough ideas that made them move in circles.

The mood was tensed, the mind was tired and after hours of puzzling over their found, Dipper and Ford decided to give their body and brain a pause by going to bed.  
 _'Tomorrow is another day'_ , is what Stanford said to his nephew who simply couldn't take his mind off of things once they gave him a new riddle to solve.  
How was he supposed to sleep when he was just inches away from the answer they have searched for?

With a restless mind Dipper laid in his bed and couldn't sleep a wink. Mabel was already out of the count when he had laid down on the other side of the room.  
His body was tired, his eyes were heavy and yet his head refused to shut up.  
After minutes of tossing and turning Dipper rubbed his eyes and sat up in his bed, let out a soft but frustrated sigh.

"Ah man… already knew I would be up all night again...", he whispered to himself and turned his head over to his watch that had laid on the nightstand.  
2:42 AM, oh joy.

He sighed again and picked up a little note he had brought with him from all of the others. The moon light was bright enough for him to read what he had scribbled down:  
The green and one- eyed triangle along with the incantation. The words were marked and underlined in several colors, written again beneath in different orders and followed by possible translations.  
Maybe he could come up with some more, just to feed his brain a little until he could finally get some sleep.

So he started to try out some more combinations, occasionally looked up some Latin words with his phone while his eyes got more and more tired.  
But after minutes of racking his brain there were those other, disregarded ideas that started to echo in his head, not letting him ignoring it any longer.

What if he reads the new incantation aloud?  
What if it wasn't just another and older version of Bill's summoning?  
What if it leads them to something great that could actually help them?  
But yet again… what if that was a big mistake?

Things could turn out better… or even _worse_.

Dipper's mouth went dry by that thought and read the words over for the umpteenth time, his lips refusing to open as the syllables rang in his head.

"Should I do it?", Dipper asked himself with silent voice, "Should I _really_ do it?"

He held his breath and looked over to Mabel who laid there peacefully, her eyes still shut.  
Not even a meteor could have wake her up now.

"…."

Dipper swallowed and looked back down on his note, inhaled with a spinning mind and sweaty fingers.  
That could be the biggest mistake he had ever made and then his sister might never be able to sleep safe and sound again.  
 _'There is no time anymore for half-hearted doubts or doubled safety'_ , the words of his gruncle echoed through his head and he bit his lip.  
He was right.  
 _Was_ he right?  
Should he _really_ do it?

He took a shaky breath. And then, in a low whisper, Dipper read the incantation.

"Omniscient Oculum Triangulum... In coelo thronum suum… Spiritus ultra et citra.  
Entangulum, Cum magna voce excitantum… Veneforis dominus ventium.. Veneforis venetisarium…"

The young boy could feel his heart pounding inside his chest, his eyes traveled around the dull lighted room as he held as still as he could.

But nothing.

"Haah…", Dipper sighed quietly. Half from disappointment, half from relief.

Another failed trial. He couldn't decide if he should be frustrated or rather happy that nothing happened.  
Maybe it was the best. Who knows what evil forces he could have unleashed this time.

And with that the tiredness finally hit him with full power and he could feel the strength leaving his muscles.  
That second of excitement seemed to have given him the last bit of exhaustion he needed and Dipper welcomed it with open arms.  
He really had enough mysteries for that day.

So he laid down with his note still in his hand, his entire body so heavy as it were weighted down with a load of bricks. And as soon as his head sank into the pillow he fell asleep in the next second, deeply and peacefully like his sister next to him.

But it wasn't long before his dreams seemed to pull him down further and further…


	3. The blue Dream Demon

A cold and soft breeze hit his skin.  
The quiet sound of rushing in the distance grazed his ears.  
His fingers could feel a flat and smooth surface he was laying on, cool to the touch, wet and soft.

Dipper opened his eyes and looked up at a light bathed sky.  
Bulgy and snow white clouds floated over him, softly blown by the wind like sailing ships of cotton.  
Slowly he turned his head to one side, still speech- and motionless.  
And what he saw send a tingling chill all over his body, unclear if the mere sight was freezing or overwhelming him.

A silent and endless sea reached over the entire horizon and touched the sky, almost melting together with their clear azure color. The traveling clouds were reflected almost flawlessly in the tender waves as if it was a giant silver mirror.  
And Dipper laid directly on the surface.

 _Where… am I?_ he thought by himself with a quiet voice inside his head, not daring to speak or move yet.

Was that a dream? Another world?  
Everything was so clear and right there. The sky, the sea, the breeze in his hair and the slight rushing in his ears. But yet again it felt so strange. Like his senses would just play a trick on him.

Somehow Dipper could bring his limbs to motion that seemed so feeble before. As if his body was still asleep. He stood up with his feet on the solid water surface, slowly and carefully. But as soon as the young boy brought himself up and looked around to search for an actual shore he saw that he wasn't as alone as he first thought.

A blue colored and flat triangle floated there over the sea, just a few meters away from Dipper and almost blurred within the sky's color.  
Its only eye was closed, its black limbs were hanging down motionless and a black hat hovered just above its top along with a tie in the middle of flat bricks.  
 _Bill!_  
Was that _Bill?!_

His name rang through Dippers head like a set off alarm as he stared up at the ghostly form, his body tensed.  
He opened his lips with a soundless gasp as he wanted to call out for him.  
But all of his actions stopped with a held in breath as the triangle slowly opened his lid and looked down at him with that calm and almost sleepy eye.

 _"I heard you prefer to get called by your nickname which is connected to your facial birthmark"_ , the triangle said with an even and quiet voice, a silent whisper filled the air.

 _"Do you wish for me naming you like that as well?"_

Dipper stood totally still with his lips parted speechlessly, his breathing almost forgotten. His head was completely empty and overstuffed with thoughts and questions at the same time, the words of his counterpart just rushed through him meaninglessly.  
But he could manage to give a single nod.

 _"So be it. 'Dipper Pines' it is then"_ , it answered after getting a positive response, slightly floating closer towards the young and still confused boy.

"Who… who are you?", Dipper asked almost soundlessly before swallowing down the dryness in his mouth.

 _"I am the one you have summoned with the ancient incantation, about 1 hour, 26 minutes and 45 seconds ago."_

"H-Huh? Wait… so it IS an old spell? And-And I thought it had no effect at all…", Dipper said in surprise and touched his forehead, almost forgot about the risk he just took a little while ago.  
First it seemed like it had lead him to nowhere.  
And now he's here, it really worked!  
But was that a good thing?

 _"Negative. In fact, you are the first human being after almost 2342 years who have found and read aloud the old evocation."_

"But… _Who_ the hell are you now? You… you look almost exactly like Bill!"

Dipper took a step back from that one-eyed demon in front of him, slowly getting anxious that he just got pulled into a big deception before getting possessed and terrorized again.

"Is that you, Bill? You won't trick me again, I'm telling you! I won't fall for this!"

 _"'Bill Cipher'…",_ the triangle repeated in a low voice, its eye lid half closed with a slight glance of dismissiveness before looking away.

With a silent hovering it passed the still wary Dipper who would keep his eyes glued to the blue shape, stopped as he had turned his backside to him.

 _"Technically you are not in the wrong, child. We do share the same knowledge and power…"_ , the demon went on, his counterpart listened closely.  
 _"Once we were still together as one inexplicable being that watched all single proceedings on your world and beyond, older than the galaxy your kind is living in. But somehow those thoughts emerged. Thought about 'desires' for more. For actions and influence, for an identity and a fingerprint in the universe. For… 'fun'."_

Slowly the triangle turned around to face Dipper again, its expression still as calm as before while the young boy tried to follow and believe its words.

 _"That was the beginning of our segregation until we were parted from each other completely. And since then he had left me between the galaxies and followed his plans, interacted with other creatures and gave himself a name and an identity. That is the 'Bill Cipher' you and your family know."_

As the blue form seemed to be finished with its explanations, Dipper dropped his gaze at the watery ground under his feet, trying to order everything he just got told.  
Was any of this really true? Would Bill actually go this far to play a trick on him?  
Dipper wanted to doubt that. And somehow… he felt like he could trust in those words.  
This place, it made him feel like nothing he had ever felt before, not to mention his experiences with the triangle's yellow counterpart.

"So wait a minute…", Dipper started after minutes of thoughtful silence,  
"You're telling me that you yourself are Bill but… not exactly him, more like a part of him. Something like… like a leftover he wanted to get rid of once? Because he wanted to make deals with people and spread his chaos?..."

 _"If you want it to put it that way, yes."_

"Wait… of course! The green triangle! That was actually the ultimate form of you two combined, right? And the summoning spell was the first one ever written, right? Right?"

Dipper's eyes went wide with a growing smile on his lips as the realization let his heart skip a beat, exited over the secrets he seemingly just had unfolded and let him forget any disbelief.  
The triangle, however, didn't seem like it would understand why the kid got so jittery all of a sudden and it blinked one-two times.

 _"Yes… Yes, that is correct."_

"Oh my god, oh my god, this is incredible!", Dipper said to himself and couldn't help his eagerness, started to pace up and down,  
"That old cavern, the ancient writing. Gruncle Ford was right! It was the last key we needed! Now we know what Bill's origins are and that there's actually more than just what the paintings were telling us and now we can find out so much more and if we could figure out just a little more we could actually find a way to end all of Bill's madness and prevent the end of the world and- and and…"

The exited boy stopped to catch his breath and to calm himself down again.  
But he couldn't believe what a huge step he just did by finding out that Bill actually has another half of himself, remains that were forgotten and nobody knew about till this day.  
Sure, there was no guarantee yet that this could actually help them out with all their problems but the possibilities were right there.  
Dipper took a few deep breaths before facing the dream demon again who would just have floated there without saying a word or giving any clear sign of emotions.

"Ahem…", Dipper cleaned his throat after talking like a faucet and scratched his head,  
"Sorry, I got… carried away a little on that I guess. Sooo, what was your name again?..."

 _"My name? I have no name I could get called by, child"_ , the demon responded as it would be the most obvious thing ever.

"No name? But… how is that possible?"

 _"Names are just used by assemblies of creatures who had developed a verbal language to communicate and to mention a certain counterpart or object in their speech. I, however, am alone in my being and do not have anyone who would call me by a name."_

"Uhm… I see…", Dipper responded with slight confusion but could manage to catch up with him in some way.  
"But… _I_ am a 'creature with verbal language' so… maybe I can just _give_ you a name?..."

 _"If that is your wish. I have no influence in that decision of yours, child"_ , the triangle responded with his even voice, clearly not caring if Dipper would just give him a name by himself.

So why not?

"Well then… If your other half called himself 'Bill' then…", Dipper started to think and kept his eyes on the still nameless shape.

"How about… 'Will'? 'William' for a better separation?"

 _"So be it. 'William' it is then"_ , the baptized responded.


	4. A tensed Morning

It was like someone simply switched on the lights when Dipper woke up in the morning and opened his eyes, looked up at the wooden sailing.  
He couldn't remember the last time waking up so lightly and without any groggy feeling.  
As if his sheer tiredness and exhaustion from the previous night would have never existed.

Still feeling a little heavy and weak though, he turned his head to his left, seeing the little dust particles floating in the ray of sunshine and an empty bed on the other side of the room.  
So Mabel was already up.

How long has he been asleep? How deeply had this dream pulled him down?  
Was it even an actual dream?  
William…  
Dipper could remember everything clearly and gapless. The endless sea, the blue demon, his even voice and that constant whisper in the distance. And that story he had told him.

About him being the deserted leftover of Bill Cipher and just a part of an ancient existence which only purpose was gaining knowledge about quite everything and more since time immemorial.  
When Dipper first puzzled over their discovery back in the caves and the old incantation he just saw himself groping in the dark, standing on a dead end. But now they really did one step further towards the answers of all those mysteries and maybe even more!  
That could be the big solution, the gambit to checkmate Bill!

Dipper couldn't wait to tell everything to Grunkle Ford!

Eager as never before the young boy jumped out of his bed and nearly stumbled over the carpet as he made his way downstairs quickly. Mabel and Stan were still sitting at the kitchen table, already dressed up and finished with their breakfast.

"Well, look who finally decided to come around. Already wondered about when you would plan to wake up, kiddo", Grunkle Stan greeted and raised his second cup of coffee.

Mabel was messing around with the newspaper sheets that were already read by her uncle and crafted something… indescribable.

"No wonder after going on adventures first and then staying up all night with his head stuck on notes and books, am I right?", she teased and covered her paper sculpture in sticky glue,  
"But hey, you're not looking like a zombie this time."

"Uhhh, thanks...", Dipper answered before getting right to the point impatiently,  
"Anyway, where's Grunkle Ford? I _really_ have to talk to him right now!"

"Haah.. well, that guy is in the basement since whenever, only saw him once in the morning when he got himself some more coffee and mumbling stuff to himself", Stan sighed with a little grumble in his voice and looked back down into his newspapers.

"Great! Thanks!" Dipper didn't want to waste any time and spun around on his heels, only to get held back again by the rusty voice of his uncle.

"Not so fast, kid! Going down there is the last thing I would do now if I were you. That Sixer definitely hadn't caught any sleep just like I know him and he wouldn't let anybody even get their little toe inside his lab. Trust me."

"What? But it's really important! It's about our researches from yesterday and I have to-"

"No chances! I wouldn't say so if I haven't try it already, okey? So calm down already, eat your breakfast and take a lil' break from this mystery junk, will ya…"

"But-"

"I said no!"

And with that Grunkle Stan buried himself behind his newspapers again and cut off any other responses from his nephew who would just stand there left in the lurch.  
At first he would just watch the old man in great disbelief before giving an irritated snort and dropping any more attempts to convince his stubborn uncle.

"Pf, fine then", Dipper snarled rather to himself and turned around to leave the kitchen.  
That just had spoiled his appetite anyway.

What was the deal with him all of a sudden?  
Getting all grumpy and bossy just because of Dipper wanting to talk to Ford about things he didn't understand anyway or simply wanted no part of it.  
He had no idea what great discovery and progress they two had made since yesterday and that it could not only save their world but the whole universe.  
He had no idea how important Dipper's concerns were, how serious the matter.  
What a big blockhead…

"Hey bro-bro, wait!"

Mabel's voice jolted the young boy out of his bugged thoughts and made him stop in his tracks as his sister came after him on the hallway, bringing that paper thingy with her.  
Dipper turned around and looked into her smiling and encouraging face.

"Don't mind him Dip, I'm sure he's just worried about Grunkle Ford who's acting all weird since this morning. And I think he just wants you to take a break and keep a clear mind…"

"Oh yea? Well, my mind is clearer than ever before while he was just taken it out on me!  
Whatever is bugging him that much, it's not my fault and neither a reason to not letting me go downstairs!", Dipper responded surly and crossed his arms,  
"What should be the matter with Ford anyway? Yesterday he was perfectly fine during the whole time till we went to bed..."

"Well… I don't know much about that either but he seemed quite worried when I saw him you know? I went to the bathroom last night and I think I heard him waking up with a scream before going downstairs.  
Had a bad dream maybe…"

Dipper's frowned face softened slowly when Mabel shrugged and looked at him in slight concern.  
Waking up with a scream. Yea, that sounded familiar…

"A bad dream? You mean that he woke up from a nightmare?"

"Maybe, yes. I bet he hadn't cough up any sleep since then.  
Looked awful this morning and muttered strange stuff to himself", Mabel said and tried to remember those scraps that she could understand,  
"Stuff like… _'I need to hurry'_ and _'He's coming'_ , _'The rift, the rift'_ and something like that…"

At this point Dipper's gaze dropped to the ground as he went silent for a moment.

He's coming? The rift?  
To him it sounded like Ford had indeed a sheer nightmare. But not just any nightmare.  
Dipper was sure that his uncle got terrorized by Bill in his dreams and seemingly got told some daunting and startling things.  
From what Ford had told him about his past with that wicked dream demon it wouldn't be a big surprise but rather to be expected, especially after their 'Mystery Haunt'.  
And besides, Dipper could tell.  
You just don't dream about Bill without waking up screaming and being covered in sweat, almost afraid to close your eyes again.

But… what has Ford seen in his dreams that he would be all paralyzed and frantic?  
What has Bill told him?  
And most importantly… does he think that he would have to blame himself?...

"Did something happen yesterday? The two of you weren't really responsive when you finally came back home from your adventure…"

Mabel's voice woke Dipper from his deep thoughts once again and the young boy raised his worried gaze to his sister, only to see her equally caring smile.  
Since Ford told him about the cracking rift he didn't really talked to Mabel about all the stuff that was going on recently, also because he promised to not tell a living soul about it.  
So what should he do?

"Ah... no, nothing happened. That's why I'm starting to worry about Grunkle Ford too, you know...", Dipper scratched his head.

"Then do you have any idea what he was talking about?"

What should he do?  
Should he tell her?  
Dipper swallowed.

"… No, I have no idea."

"Mh…"

An awkward silence filled the room and seemed to last for hours as both of the kids looked away, remaining in their own thoughts for many seconds. But soon it was broken when Mabel smiled at her brother again, encouraging and delighting as ever.

"But hey, don't worry about our Grunkles. I'm sure they would have told us when something serious is going on, right?"

Dipper couldn't help it and returned that smile his sister gave him. She would always be able to smile at him and cheering him up, no matter what…

"Yea, that's right… Let's not think about it…", he sighed and tried to get rid of that awful feeling. So he would just let out a sigh and point at the living room behind him,  
"So I'll just… carry on with the stuff from yesterday."

"Hey, I can help you this time!", Mabel grinned at him while she tried to get her fingers off of the sticky sculpture in her hands.  
"Just let me handle this masterpiece first and then I'm ready for whatever it is!"

"Oh, err… you don't have to, really", Dipper rejected with an uneasy smile and scratched his head again. "It's a little complicated to explain everything and it's also kinda difficult since you weren't with us yesterday and yea… it's complicated..."

"Oh…" Mabel looked down for a moment and her proud and happy face slowly vanished.

Dipper bit down on his lip. There was this awful silence again.

"I see… whelp, just come over when you need a Mabel okey?...", she finally said and looked at him, simpering.

"Haha, of course. I will", the brother responded and tried to brighten up the mood a little with a quiet chuckle.

And with that his sister gave him a last smile before the twins would turn away from each other and go their ways.  
Dipper followed the hallway to the living room and forced himself to not look back to Mabel.

He can't remember the last time feeling so terrible and guilty.  
It wasn't the first time that he had lied to her of course but there never were any serious secrets between them two before.  
No matter what it was, Mabel was always the first and sometimes only person he would tell anything and vice versa. He would even bet on it that she knows him better than he does himself.  
And yet he had lied to her face without flinching, rejected her help like he wouldn't want to have her around him.  
Sure, he gave his word to Ford to keep quiet about their researches to some extent.  
But she had looked at him so sadly…

"Quit it, man. Stop thinking about that. It's for the best…", Dipper mumbled to himself and shook his head to get it off his shoulders.  
But this morning hadn't really gone out as delightful and exciting as he first thought it will when he had opened his eyes.  
Ford was somewhere inapproachable until who knows when, Stan had his mind somewhere else and the mood between the two was quite ruined at this point and Mabel…

He will tell her eventually. He will. But not now…

"Haah...", the young boy sighed heavily and walked over to the table where he was sitting with Grunkle Ford yesterday.  
And it was just as overloaded as on the previous night.  
Some notes and printouts were still there, some got seemingly thrown away and others were added. But while the other two journals were missing there was still journal number one.  
So Ford didn't collar anything before he would dig himself in his lab again.  
At least something…

It wasn't like Dipper would have had much hope to actually find something helpful between all this mess, a mess he already knew like the back of his hand.  
But he couldn't just wait until his Grunkle would finally come up from his underground office and tell him what's actually going on.  
He couldn't just wait and twiddle his thumbs while the crack in the rift might get bigger with every passed second.  
A crack which he might have caused…

He had to do something.  
And by looking at his options he had to do it all alone.  
Or did he?…


	5. Decisions in the Attic

„This is just crazy…", Dipper mumbled to himself, walked up and down in the attic with the journal in his hands and browsed through those pages since at least an hour now.  
He already could feel the ache in his head after all that pondering, the nervous heat inside his chest, getting stronger with every minute of hesitation.

But he had to make a decision. And he had to make it now.

Once again he scrolled to those pages his Grunkle had shown him and remembered the Floating Cliffs of Gravity Falls with their odd shape. Just the thought about a frigging space ship that once had crashed down in the great valley would amaze the young boy each time anew. And normally he wouldn't be able to wait to see it with his own eyes.  
But this time it wouldn't be just a simple and mostly harmless mystery hunt, just for the sake of discovering all the great secrets of this town.  
This time it would be just as dangerous as highly needed by looking at those pages and after what Ford had told him.

An alien adhesive.  
Powerful enough to seal quite everything and even the crack in the rift.  
The perfect and exact thing that Dipper undoubtedly needed.  
But looking for that space ship and going down there? Alone?

Dipper remembered how his uncle told him about his trips within the spacecraft and how he used its parts to build the portal. Each trip, he said, had seemed riskless at first and ended without damage since all of the aliens have been dead for at least millions of years.  
So he thought.  
But at his last visits he had seen that he has been wrong.  
Some creatures were actually able to survive for that long time and could live in the dark without barely anything, getting used to the rare access to food, light or movement. They actually prepared themselves for the absolute emergency situation of living from almost nothing, no matter for how long.  
Crazy creatures…  
And the craziest thing about them is that despite everything they have almost attacked him with full strength and just by a whisker he could get away.

But if even his uncle had struggles with getting off cheaply what are the odds for Dipper to not croak in an instant?  
Probably downright zero.  
No, there was no way he could do it all on his own or without any aid.

Dipper needed this adhesive. And he needed help, that's for sure.  
And actually he had already an idea who he could ask.  
But… was that a good idea?

"My foot…", Dipper answered himself and let out a frustrated sigh before sitting down on the padded windowsill, putting down the journal right in front of him.  
His mind was getting increasingly tired and he'd love nothing better than someone taking all of that out of his hands.

But he had to make a decision. And he had to make it now.

What else could he possibly do? Who else could he ask?  
No one of his family was really approachable in this case and Dipper simply refuses to put anyone else in danger. Especially his sister.

No, there was no one else and no one who could actually help him out.  
But it wasn't the first time that he got himself into such a dilemma which ended in a sinister decision. Wild horses couldn't bring him to repeat that mistake ever again.  
He even has been warned a several times before.

 _There's no one you can trust._  
No one you can trust…

But he had to make a decision. And he had to make it now.

The young boy sighed once more and buried his frowned face into his hands, rubbed his eyes in attempt to mitigate his headache.  
He couldn't believe what he was about to do.  
 _Again._

But with a final breath of air Dipper rose his head, swallowed down the dryness in his mouth before calling out silently, hoarsely:

"William…"

Scarcely had the name left his lips, the room around him seemed to change.

For a split second a dizzy feeling came over Dipper's head, the temperature dropped to an indefinable degree as the time reached deadlock and made anything looking unreal and void.  
And when the entire room was completely embraced by this dullness, a bright and blueish shape formed itself beneath the wooden ceiling, appeared with a silent and short blaze out of nowhere.

In this moment Dipper breathed out again as he had overcome this second of fright, looked up at the only light and color source in this room with its black limbs and closed eye.  
And slowly this eye would open a small crack and glance down at the young boy.

 _"Here I am"_ , William said calmly as ever with that quiet whisper in the background, a voice which was able to actually relax the tensed boy a little bit.

Dipper stood up and watched the ghostly shape floating down on eye level. And for a short moment he had to lift one corner of his mouth.

This whole scenery was just a big and twisted déjà vu.  
Him being all frustrated and cornered with a problem he can't solve on his own, sitting in the dimmed attic when a dream demon appears and seems to be the only one who might be able to help him out with a deal seeming so riskless.  
Except this time he wasn't lured with empty promises or persuaded until he would finally shake a demon's hand.  
This time it was _him_ who had asked for the possibility of making instant contact to begin with, just before receiving a visit from this demon who would implicitly ask for his wish like some sort of djinn.  
How ironic…

This time it was _him_ asking for a demon's handshake.

"Well I… I need your help, William", Dipper started and already regretted his decision.

 _"Apparently you do. And in my assessment it has something to do with the sealing material in the spacecraft, do I have this right?"_

So he knew. Oh, of course he knew…

"Y-yes, quite right… I see you already know the issue."

 _"I do of course. And now you want me to convey this material to you directly, is that right as well?"_

"Well… no, actually not."

 _"No?..."_

The blue triangle looked down confused at the young boy who had dropped his still hesitant gaze.  
True, Dipper could just simply ask for a quick and effortless purchase of that adhesive and leave everything to Will.  
But that was not the plan.

"No… I will be the one who goes down the spacecraft and get that adhesive. I don't want anybody doing the dirty work for me… but I would probably peg out in the first five minutes if I try to do it all by myself and without any preparation.  
So I'm asking you to help me as something like… well…"

 _"A life guard?"_

"Yes, a life guard…", Dipper nodded and cracked a weird smile.

Did that sound odd?  
Probably it did. But he couldn't think of anything else.

 _"You do realize that the most possible way to preserve you from any physical harm would be a required, perhaps temporal takeover of your body, besides complying with my advices?"_

"Uh… yes. I guess I have no choice…", Dipper answered and already saw that coming.  
It seems like there won't be any chance to get around the possibility of getting possessed…  
"But only in the case of an emergency of course!"

 _"So a life guard, I see... However, how did you plan to disburse me in case I would accept?"_

And that was in fact the next problem.  
What could Dipper possibly have that would be in a dream demon's interest?  
His deal with Bill was an easy case. After all it was Bill who wanted a deal in the first place to reach what he wanted to reach: To destroy the laptop and the journals.  
But now it was _him_ approaching William with the wish for a settlement.

"Well, uhm… isn't it the case that both of us pursue the same goal?"

 _"What goal could that be?"_

"Well, to save the universe from Bill, right?...", Dipper started to explain and had to admit to himself that he couldn't come up with anything better. But even so, it made sense to him.

"I mean you told me that you and Bill are, or at least were actually a being that wasn't supposed to take any actions ever and now Bill came that far to throw anything into turmoil, just for fun. Something you wasn't supposed to feel either.  
Wouldn't that be something you would want to prevent too…?"

 _"…"_

The triangle kept silent.  
With its calm eye it watched Dipper who would look up at him in a hopeful way.  
He wasn't sure if his brittle words could convince someone like William who didn't seem like the biggest ambitionist Dipper had ever met. And yet he's standing here, trying to argue with Will after avowing himself that this was his only chance.  
But it looked like the demon would truly mull over his argument.

 _"To recap your proposal, aiding you in patching the interdimensional rift would pursue the goal of saving the universe which is the goal of both of us. And therefore it would be a fair deal."_

"I… guess so?...", Dipper answered with hunched shoulders.

And after a few silent seconds of exchanging thoughtful glances, William crossed his dark arms behind his backside.

 _"Alright, child. I accept"_ , the demon announced finally and came a little closer.

Dippers eyes went wide open by those words he actually hoped for.  
Or did he?

"You do?"

William didn't answer again.  
instead he lifted his right hand and in the next moment it was enlighten with golden, bright flames.  
And with his even, calm voice he started to frame the verbal contract word by word.

 _"By shaking my hand, you, Dipper Pines, agree to the following conditions of this contract:  
During the time of your acquisition of the alien adhesive I will protect you from any physical and evitable harm. Doing so by giving advices which had to be observed, making provisions and take control over your body if needed.  
This contract will end by the moment when we had left the craft along with the sealing material.  
By breach, no matter from which side, the contract will get void from the moment of the handshake.  
Be aware of that.  
Do you have any objections or additions?" _

During every single spoken word Dipper had starred at this inflamed hand, the light flickering along his face and widely open eyes, silent.  
How accurate the dream demon has formed this contract, not skipping any details and even asked for contradictions.

So this is it.  
This will be the deal he would wrap up with this blue dream demon.  
He's really going to shake a demon's hand once again and allow him to use his body as a vessel.  
He has clearly gone mad.

 _'There is no time anymore for half-hearted doubts or doubled safety'_ , Dipper heard his uncle's voice once again.

From his lips to god's ears…

"..…you will take over my body only in case of absolute emergency. Just if you're sure that I clearly won't be able to handle the situation myself", Dipper finally answered after minutes of thoughtful silence, looking up at the patient shape.

 _"I agree"_ , William responded.

"And the deal is off at the moment I left the craft safe and sound..."

 _"I agree."_

"… and even if _you_ break the rules… the contract will get void…"

 _"I agree"_ , the demon said once more.

Dipper sighed. Swallowed.  
And with slightly shaking fingers he reached out, touching William's black hand and watched how those golden, cold flames invaded their handshake like an unbreakable, brightly shining seal.

"Deal…"

 _"Deal."_


End file.
